diff --git a/arch/um/include/os.h b/arch/um/include/os.h
index 1897785fd57..a6d80721d3c 100644
--- a/arch/um/include/os.h
+++ b/arch/um/include/os.h
@@ -227,6 +227,7 @@ extern int set_umid(char *name);
 extern char *get_umid(void);
 
 /* signal.c */
+extern void timer_init(void);
 extern void set_sigstack(void *sig_stack, int size);
 extern void remove_sigstack(void);
 extern void set_handler(int sig, void (*handler)(int), int flags, ...);
diff --git a/arch/um/kernel/time.c b/arch/um/kernel/time.c
index 2bda07dcd34..758d4f9cb22 100644
--- a/arch/um/kernel/time.c
+++ b/arch/um/kernel/time.c
@@ -97,6 +97,8 @@ static void register_timer(void)
 {
 	int err;
 
+	timer_init();
+
 	err = request_irq(TIMER_IRQ, um_timer, IRQF_DISABLED, "timer", NULL);
 	if (err != 0)
 		printk(KERN_ERR "register_timer : request_irq failed - "
diff --git a/arch/um/os-Linux/irq.c b/arch/um/os-Linux/irq.c
index a633fa8e0a9..2fe482219b6 100644
--- a/arch/um/os-Linux/irq.c
+++ b/arch/um/os-Linux/irq.c
@@ -145,10 +145,6 @@ void init_irq_signals(int on_sigstack)
 
 	flags = on_sigstack ? SA_ONSTACK : 0;
 
-	set_handler(SIGVTALRM, (__sighandler_t) alarm_handler,
-		    flags | SA_RESTART, SIGUSR1, SIGIO, SIGWINCH, SIGALRM, -1);
-	set_handler(SIGALRM, (__sighandler_t) alarm_handler,
-		    flags | SA_RESTART, SIGUSR1, SIGIO, SIGWINCH, SIGALRM, -1);
 	set_handler(SIGIO, (__sighandler_t) sig_handler, flags | SA_RESTART,
 		    SIGUSR1, SIGIO, SIGWINCH, SIGALRM, SIGVTALRM, -1);
 	signal(SIGWINCH, SIG_IGN);
diff --git a/arch/um/os-Linux/signal.c b/arch/um/os-Linux/signal.c
index 1c5267ec13b..53593c8b9c3 100644
--- a/arch/um/os-Linux/signal.c
+++ b/arch/um/os-Linux/signal.c
@@ -85,6 +85,16 @@ void alarm_handler(int sig, struct sigcontext *sc)
 	set_signals(enabled);
 }
 
+void timer_init(void)
+{
+	set_handler(SIGVTALRM, (__sighandler_t) alarm_handler,
+		    SA_ONSTACK | SA_RESTART, SIGUSR1, SIGIO, SIGWINCH,
+		    SIGALRM, -1);
+	set_handler(SIGALRM, (__sighandler_t) alarm_handler,
+		    SA_ONSTACK | SA_RESTART, SIGUSR1, SIGIO, SIGWINCH,
+		    SIGALRM, -1);
+}
+
 void set_sigstack(void *sig_stack, int size)
 {
 	stack_t stack = ((stack_t) { .ss_flags	= 0,